We Are Straight Allies would like to extend our gratitude to the 25 beautiful souls who attended our inaugural workshop at the Historic Springfield Learning Center (in partnership with Wells Fargo and the Jacksonville Urban League). We had a diverse group of people from small business owners to corporate executives, faith leaders to city council candidates, allies and members of the LGBT community, gathered together to create meaningful dialogue around what it means to be a better ally.
Attendees discussed the issues the LGBT community faces, learned more about inclusive language, proper pronoun usage and correct terminology. We shared stories about our own experiences with discrimination and how important it is that we practice everyday advocacy for those in marginalized communities. There were great questions posed by the group as to how we can all work together to insure passage of a comprehensive Human Rights Ordinance in the city of Jacksonville, and how we can go out in the community and empower others to join us as allies as well.
A very special thank you to City Xtra Magazine for sponsoring this event! and thank you for your valuable feedback on what additional workshops you would each like to see for future workshops as well! We are planning the next community workshop for September – date, time, location, and more information on that coming soon!
We Are Allies 